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NVF000000, aka "Diana English"; Las Vegas - Living Unidentified
Topic Started: Jan 18 2011, 08:03 AM (387 Views)
tatertot
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IDENTITIES SOUGHT

The Clark County Public Guardian's office, with the help of Las Vegas police and the Nevada Center for Missing Loved Ones, has identified a second of the five adult wards profiled in a July 26 Review-Journal story.

The man the county called "George Woods" is actually Gary Dean Willett, 70, according to Detective Daniel Holley. Officials haven't been able to find any of Willett's family members.

Officials also might be close to identifying a woman who believes her name is Diana English, said Frank Mahoney, founder of the Nevada Center for Missing Loved Ones.

Service providers have given the other two unidentified wards temporary names based on their circumstances when they arrived at valley hospitals or social service agencies.

Earle Trauma, for example, a man thought to be between 40 and 50 years old, was hit by a car and suffered serious brain injuries in February 2008. Officials believe he may have been homeless.

The county isn't sure how John Hitchhiker Doe, who has been a ward since 2001, got the name. He can't tell anybody his own name because he's essentially a complete amnesiac.

If you know the family of Gary Dean Willett or recognize Diana English, John Hitchhiker Doe or Earle Trauma, call the Clark County Guardian's Office at 702-455-4332.

LYNNETTE CURTIS / LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
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tatertot
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http://www.8newsnow.com/story/13846443/cou...-unknown-people

Stephen Jackson, Online News Editor
County, Police Work to Identify Unknown Wards
Posted: Jan 14, 2011 4:44 PM EST Updated: Jan 17, 2011 7:43 PM EST

LAS VEGAS -- Diana English sits in a wheelchair at a care facility in northwest Las Vegas. Her graying hair is in tight braids and she's wearing a jacket. She's bored.

English doesn't know how she got to Las Vegas. She doesn't know when she graduated high school. Her real name is even a mystery, though English is sure she has that detail of her life correct.

English is a ward of Clark County -- one of five people local government found themselves caring for, because no one else would. The real identity of these five people were unknown -- the wards themselves were uncertain of their identities, either because of traumatic injury, mental illness, or some combination of the two. And so, with no one to take responsibility for their custody, five people, unknown and unidentified, came under the County's care.

Now, however, through a partnership with the Nevada Center for Missing Loved Ones and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, unidentified wards of the County are getting a fresh look. Attempts are being made to identify these people and reunite them with their families. But this is not an easy task.

The Clark County Public Guardian began caring for English in May of 2001, when she was hospitalized for a number of medical issues. When the hospital couldn't determine English's identity, they called the County. The effort to identify her has been going on ever since.

"I don't know what brought me here -- how I got here," English said. "That's what I'm trying to figure out.

She knows she has a brother, but she doesn't remember his name. No sisters, no kids, no mother. She says she has been married twice, and twice divorced. She recalls her ex-husband's names with no problem. But whether the names and details English offers up are actual memories, or fantasies, is still up for debate.

For now, English spends her days playing bingo and reading mystery novels -- her favorite is Agatha Christie. A slight smile flashes across her face, acknowledging the irony of her reading habits.

****

Detective Dan Holley holds up two pictures. In one hand is a photo of Diana English. In the other is a photo of Janice Green, whose name has been changed for privacy reasons. English is sitting in her wheelchair. Green is wearing her Sunday best and holding a bible. They could be sisters. They could be the same person.

Detective Holley got the photo of Green after tracking down the church English said she used to attend in California. When the detective sent church leaders a photo of English, they immediately said she looked like Green. The only problem? Green isn't missing.

"She's alive and well," said Holley, looking at the photo of Green. "Man, what a striking resemblance."

The church wasn't Holly's only dead end. He also found the California high school English claims she attended – but school records don't go back far enough to confirm whether a student named Diana English ever enrolled.

Holly found a bar English claimed was near her childhood apartment, also right where English said it would be. But, as children rarely frequent bars, no one knew who she was. So Holly still has no idea who English is six months after working on her case.

"She knew folks because everything she has given us is correct. She can't fill in some of the holes, but you can't think she's a liar trying to conceal her identity," he said.

Aside from the information English has given, she can't offer much help. "I'm a misplaced person, I guess."

****

Detective Holley is Metro's lone detective working cold cases in the missing persons unit. In the summer of 2010, the public guardian asked him to take a look at five unidentified people living as wards of the County. So far, he's identified four of them.

Some were easy, with Holley simply running a fingerprint check through the national database. Others, like the case of a woman known as Danette Margra, were a little more nuanced. After running her criminal history, Holley noticed one line on the report, a short sentence that said Margra also went by the name Monica Danette Jenkins. So Holley ran a background check on that name, and he hit pay dirt.

"I get some screaming women on the phone, 'you found my daughter! You found my sister!' And it was awesome," he said.

Then there is the case of "Trauma Earle," the man Holley most recently identified. Earle was hit by a car while walking near Flamingo and Las Vegas Boulevard several years ago. Because he is bedridden, his hands are atrophied, making fingerprinting impossible. Four attempts to take his prints all resulted in tiny smudges of indecipherable ink.

Miraculously, while looking through old files, Detective Holley found a set of prints taken from Earle not long after his accident. Just like that, Trauma Earle became Stanley Doyle.

So this Christmas, for the first time in years, Stanley Doyle got a card from his brother. Doyle's caseworker said he was overjoyed to have the family contact; he held the card and smiled. Today, he keeps it under his blanket for safekeeping.

But for Metro's detectives, the county wards aren't a top priority. They aren't missing. They are being taken care of. They don't trump the hundreds of missing persons cases that come in each month. Even when Holley does have some free time to start working the ward cases, answers don't come quick.

"There is no magic bullet," he said. "There is no way to make this happen, just hard police work."

****

The partnership to identify the wards was a tough decision for Public Guardian Kathleen Buchanan. Starting the program meant reaching out to the public, which would expose the private details of the wards – something Buchanan wrestled with.

"A lot of people come (to Las Vegas) to get lost. They have a right to do that. If that's the case, you're really jeopardizing their privacy if they did that," she said.

Taking that chance was well worth it. Buchanan says she had to make peace with herself over the privacy decision, but it isn't one that she would change. The program has been very rewarding, both for the wards and for the guardian.

"It makes us feel good to be able to serve these individuals and get the proper care. It's probably been one of the best feelings in my 24 years in this office to sit across the table with a family member who loved and cared about these people," she said.

The program is also rewarding the County's coffers in a time of exceptional fiscal burden. Because they cannot be identified, the wards have no Social Security number. They cannot collect federal benefits, and so the County must pick up the tab for their care. The County spent about $500,000 a year caring for the wards. Identifying those four people will save about $400,000 this year.

For Buchanan, the wards are a top priority, and she loves her job.

"We come in and we enact changes for people's lives. We make their lives better and this is just one small example of people not being forgotten in our society," she said. "I love walking in the door everyday. You know you will learn something new every day. Who can say that?"

If you have any information about the identity of Diana English, contact the Clark County Public Guardian at (702) 455-4332 or Detective Dan Holley at (702) 828-2907. You can remain anonymous.

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tatertot
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